OBSERVATIONS ON TERMITES IN JAMAICA 219 



The responses to aliens are not the same to all members of 

 any community and this is markedly true of the two castes, 

 workers and soldiers, since in a great many cases the soldiers 

 are attacked when the workers are not or but slightly. The 

 soldiers seem thus to bring out the fighting reaction more 

 strongly than do the workers, as a rule. 



The phenomena of artificial mixed colonies must also be 

 taken into consideration. When a worker from a colony, 12, 

 was put into another, 13, and vice versa, there resulted fighting, 

 but when several thousand of 12 were thrown into a bowl with 

 about as many of 13 there was little fighting and a mixture 

 resulted in which no fighting nor dead were seen in the follow- 

 night and day. 



Yet the members of this mixture were of two sorts as shown 

 by their reactions to the parent colonies. Some tested sepa- 

 rately had retained the character of 12, that is, they were 

 attacked when put into 13 but were not attacked when re- 

 stored to 12. Others were attacked in 12 but not in 13, and 

 might be said to have belonged to 13. The termites of com- 

 munity 12, which had two queens, were smaller and more aggres- 

 sive than the larger, milder termites of 13, which had one large 

 queen. In the mixture one could often recognize the two sorts 

 by their sizes, but not always. Both soldiers and workers, 

 though living without fighting apparently, with the alien com- 

 munity, were attacked when put singly amidst the pure aliens 

 that had not been associated with the other colony. 



When a large mass of the pure element, 12 or 13, was put 

 into the mixture there was some fighting at the periphery of 

 the introduced clump, but this was temporary. When a single 

 worker or soldier from the pure colony 12 or 13 was put into 

 the mixture it was generally noticed but rarely attacked. How- 

 ever, a dead queen from 12 put into the mixed colony was 

 attacked by some and cleaned by others ; put then into 1 3 , 

 was surrounded and bitten by three workers which held to it 

 when removed ; returned to 12, was surrounded and preened 

 but not bitten. 



The termites of this mixed colony had not lost response to 

 a third community; a worker of a community, 10, put into 12 

 was attacked, transferred to 13 was mildly attacked, and then 

 put into the mixture was attacked ; a soldier of 10 was attacked 



